Ethan Burton has never broken par (72) on his home course in Sudbury - the Idylwylde Golf & Country Club.

The graduate of Lo-Ellen Park Secondary and SDSSAA boys golf champion in 2024 accomplished that and then some in his very first OUA (Ontario University Athletics) tournament as a member of the Laurentian Voyageurs.

Firing a seven under par round of 64 at the Guelph Lakes & Country Club a week ago Friday, Burton captured first place at the Guelph Gryphons Fall Kickoff, edging Robbie Pemberton (Brock) by a single stroke and Dayton Price (Laurier) by a pair.

For as much as his stat-line may not have served as a great indicator of the debut he was about to unveil, Burton could sense that a breakthrough was perhaps just around the corner.

"It's been a pretty good year, all around, for me," said the 18 year-old first year student of Sports Administration. "I haven't posted many really good scores but I felt the game was there, that I was playing well but would just get caught in some places, here and there, and that would ruin my scores."

"Overall, with my swing and my game, I felt that a big round was coming."

Having never played this course before, Burton did not veer too far astray from an approach that was more or less as simple as possible.

"Keeping the ball in play was a big thing, off the tee especially," he said. "If you could put the ball in play every time off the tee, you were in such a good place to make good numbers."

"The focus was just to keep it in play and put it in a spot where I could see."

The end result was that for as much as Burton sank "some big putts", it was not a series of twenty-footers that led to his round to remember.

"It was my approach; I was literally putting shots so close to the pin that the putts were almost gimmees," he said. "Even when I wasn't right at the pin, I still found a lot of good six or seven foot putts, putts that were a little challenging that I made."

As a team, the Laurentian men were all fairly zoned in as the Voyageurs finished third in a field of 11 teams thanks to the efforts of Jacob Lacko (71), Vincent Palladino (76), Logan West (78), Adam Mutuchky (78) and Burton.

A young Laurentian women's team was led by Vanessa Paterson (92), with Cameron O'Daiskey (101) and Hannah Sullivan (107) falling just short of breaking the century mark.

The Voyageurs were back in action this past Sunday at the Brock Invitational (Sawmill Golf Course), the gents posting a mid-pack finish with the duo of Lacko (74) and Palladino (75) showing the way.

Vanessa Paterson continues to show signs that her game is clearly trending in the right direction, firing a round of 87 in St Catharines, a score that may well have qualified her for the OUA Championships (October 4th to 6th in Windsor).

The Laurentian crew are back in action this coming weekend, with the men contesting the Waterloo / Laurier Invite (Grey Silo and Rebel Creek) and the women over at the Waterloo Invite at the Cambridge Golf Course.